Recompense
by Kutsuu Mugen
Summary: A word signifying the righting of some wrong, either real or imagined.  A word denoting action.  A word whose meaning would find new depths in Naruto. Rated M for language and possibly violence, more occurring in later chapters.  No pairings planned.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any work off of this writing for fun. Sue if you must. I have nothing worth taking.

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><p>Recompense. A word signifying the righting of some wrong, either real or imagined. A word denoting action. A word whose meaning would find new depths in Naruto.<p>

It all started with a simple, yet profound, question at a most inopportune moment.

Team 7 trudged along the southern road at an agonizing pace. For a civilian, the pace was perfect for lengthy journeys, fast enough to cover a decent amount of distance but slow enough that one didn't tire too quickly (eliminating the need for frequent stops). Unfortunately for the ninja (who were practically bred and trained for speed and stealth), their current mission required them to escort and protect one Tazuna, the quite drunk bridge builder from Nami no Kuni. Despite the frequent grumblings (some of which went to the effect of 'Even that damn cat was better than this' or 'How I miss that cat! It had the decency to run fast enough to give meagre homage to our skills.'), they kept to the pace set by their client – if only because every time they tried to carry him, he screamed "**RAPE!**" loud enough to attract every bandit (living and dead) within 10 kilometers.

The slow pace also had the unfortunate consequence of boring one hyperactive blond. Normally his cure for boredom entailed some sort of reve... I mean, _prank_ on the villagers, but since he couldn't exactly sneak ahead to set up a prank without being caught, he decided to talk instead. Again, normally such a decision would have the effect of trying to carry a drunk Tazuna (10 km worth of bandits) as Naruto seemed to possess no volume control; this time however, Naruto decided to broach a subject that was both serious and highly uncomfortable.

Therefore, he slacked his pace enough to fall in beside Kakashi (how it _killed _him to slow even further) and queried in a voice akin to a stage whisper, "Kakashi-sensei, do you hate me?"

Kakashi was so gobsmacked by the very idea that one of his students (who he had passed, it must be noted) would doubt that Kakashi didn't hate them enough to ask that he completely failed to notice the approach, and passing, of a mud puddle. 'The rest,' they say, 'is history.'

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> They'll get longer, eventually, I'm sure. This just seemed like the best place to end this first one.

Anyway, please read and review. Comments and criticisms are always welcome. Who knows? You might even give me a good idea. If that occurs, you will get a mention in an author's note.


	2. Chapter 1: Anguish

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any work off of this writing for fun. Sue if you must. I have nothing worth taking.

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><p>It all happened so fast. It sounds so cliché, especially to a ninja, but it really did all happen so fast that they barely knew it was happening.<p>

Their consciousness of it began with Kakashi's gurgle, the rattle in his throat signifying his imminent demise. Naruto, who had been staring at his feet trekking across the ground in expectation of the admittance of hatred Naruto thought he'd give, looked up sharply at the sound, thinking Kakashi had said something he'd not understood.

The sight before him took his breath away. There stood Kakashi with chains wrapped around him, the blades in their links piercing into his skin. So focused was Naruto on the sight that he didn't even notice where the chains led. The next words he heard completely robbed him of all other thoughts: "I never hated you. I just didn't know how to help..." Anything further was cut off as the chains ripped through Kakashi's body, blood splattering lightly across anything within ten meters.

"Aww, how touching. He didn't hate the little baby," came the words that flipped the switch deep within Naruto's mind. Time seemed to freeze as emotions crashed down upon his consciousness like an endless ocean upon the shore. The guilt, the fear, the shame, the anger, the loss. But most of all, the anguish. Anguish that he had lost a teacher, maybe even a friend. Anguish that, after finally finding someone else who didn't hate him, they were savagely ripped away from him. The anguish suffused his being, permeating every pore, drenching every thought. As his mind focused on the act that ripped it all away, another emotion took prominence. With that, all hell broke loose.

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><p><strong>Author<strong>**'s Note:** Another short one, I know. They seem longer when I'm writing them by hand. Probably because my hand cramps before I finish even this much.


	3. Chapter 2: Rage

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any work off of this writing for fun. Sue if you must. I have nothing worth taking.

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><p>Deep within the bowels of Naruto's mind, a being long since asleep began to regain awareness of the events surrounding it. No one knew the being's gender, and throughout its existence, no one dared to ask. Seriously, what thinking person would actually ask a nigh omnipotent being its gender and so risk offending it? Hence, the legend of the bijuu being genderless was born out of the desire for preservation of one's culture.<p>

As awareness shifted into consciousness, Kyuubi no Youko, the nine-tailed demon fox, began tossing around its considerable youki stores in hopes of finding a weakness in its jail. What it found instead surprised even it, considering it had lived long enough to see nearly everything.

An emotion so common to the bijuu flooded Naruto's mind completely: rage. Naruto possessed enough of this complex emotion that the bijuu felt sure it could find advantage somehow, yet every attempt was blocked by Naruto's own rage-fueled chakra. The exact opposite should have happened; rage-fueled youki should have melded seamlessly with the chakra, completely overloading the power output. It seemed the ancient beast had mistaken the circumstances. While Naruto's mind was practically saturated with rage, a part of it remained clear and lucid - acting as a command center does for a troop deployment.

Outside Naruto's mind, time once again began its proper course, but certain noticeable differences soon emerged. For one, the silence fled as Sakura screamed bloody murder and Sasuke hyperventilated. The current Central Command (CC) in Naruto's brain quickly blocked out these stimuli, deeming them unimportant to the task at hand. Second, Naruto moved faster, more efficiently and with more grace than he ever had before. It appeared that the chakra and cold rage saturating his system recognized the size of the threat and forced his body to match it.

He weaved and dodged expertly, years of running from angry jounin and chuunin aiding him. Step by step, he inched closer to the two chuunin nukenin from Kirigakure no Sato (Opposing Force - OPPFOR), progress slowed by the sidesteps, blocks and parries he needed simply to stay alive. Slowly, his pace quickened as he grew comfortable with the types of movements required. While he'd already been close to the OPPFOR, his short stature (which translated to shorter appendages and less reach) required him to be closer still. Thankfully by the time he'd reached the required distance, he noticed something of a pattern in the OPPFOR's movements. CC found itself analyzing the information and issuing new orders (in addition to the defensive motions). A strike to left OPPFOR's wrist. A bone-shaking blow to right OPPFOR's ribs. Over and over, the retaliatory strikes flew, some landing, but most missing. The process lasted until one by one they stopped attacking, as Naruto never seemed to run out of energy. He now stood poised over them, ready to drive the final blow home.


	4. Chapter 3: Action

His two teammates returned to reality just in time to see him swinging a kunai toward each nukenin's temple. Sakura, ever the quicker with the mental faculties (and the screeching of their conclusions), decided that a prisoner was more useful than a corpse and screamed, "No!" Unfortunately for her, said scream proved so similar to the previous that it was summarily ignored (as well as damaged several ear drums). On the positive side, Central Command came to the same conclusion, and Naruto swung the kunai ring first. After the blows connected, he looked at his hands and noted that he held kunai he didn't remember drawing (though he knew, logically, that he had them before he began his advance).

With the new unconsciousness of the OPPFOR, most of the adrenaline and some of the rage began draining from his system. He collapsed to his knees and issued an order, unaware that it was the first of many. "Sasuke, bind and gag them. We'll be going full speed back to Konoha. If the drunk gives any objection to being carried, bind and gag him too." Though Sasuke resented being ordered around by the dobe, he simply grunted and obeyed. Naruto had earned it... this time.

Twenty minutes and a quick Kage Bunshin later, they gathered all their 'packages' (including Tazuna, who had in fact complained) and set off toward Konoha. Naruto himself bore Kakashi, in all his pieces, not relegating his corpse to a Kage Bunshin or a teammate. It was the least he could do after he contributed to the man's demise. No one on the way back had any right to complain that they were travelling slowly; in fact, they pushed their own limitations as hard as their bodies would let them.


	5. Chapter 4: After Action Report AAR

The day had barely begun, but Sarutobi already knew it would be one of those days where nothing went right and few things went well. First, the village elders visited his office to bitch and moan about various things: the village jinchuuriki's continued survival, the village jinchuuriki's rise to shinobi status, the lack of 'good' ninja (as defined by Danzo's narrow mindset), Sarutobi's continued pacifism, the assignment of the village jinchuuriki to a C-rank mission, etc. The three had honestly grown so predictable that Sarutobi could foretell at what moment they would arrive, in what order, and - nearly word for word - what each would say. Next was his usual early-morning assassination attempt, courtesy of Konohamaru. While the boy now took his studies more seriously (courtesy of Naruto's talk with him), he still engaged in these mock attacks (knowing that he had no chance and that this wasn't the way to gain respect - thus removing all motivation for wanting the old man dead), simply because he never got to see his grandfather otherwise. Of course, Sarutobi never noticed this, only focusing on the inconvenience of the interruption. After that came the mission assignments with their usual accompaniment of complaining, unsatisfied genin. While at times amusing, that job never failed to produce a headache.

There were other examples, of course, but Sarutobi could feel the dull throb in his head return in force simply at reflecting over the events so far. Now came the voice that let him know his day was well and truly fucked, the voice that shouldn't be back for weeks. "Oi! Get the hell out of the way, dumbass! I need to see the Hokage! NOW!" Sarutobi attempted to prepare himself for whatever would come through that door, but nothing in any of his dreams or nightmares could prepare him for the actual result.

In trekked a group of eight, some under their own effort - most not. Sarutobi gaped at several things that just screamed wrongness. First, the client, instead of being safely escorted home and protected, sat bound and gagged (and, from the looks of it, well on his way to sobering). Next were two as-yet unidentified men, bloodied, bound and gagged. Next were the evidences that Naruto had been injured (though it had long since healed). Though this particular point wasn't totally unusual, it was interesting, given that Sasuke and Sakura remained injury free. Last, and most glaring of all, Kakashi (or rather his pieces) rested unmoving in Naruto's arms. "Ox, collect Kakashi's remains for autopsy. Team Seven, sit down. Tell me everything."

As Ox retrieved Kakashi and Team Seven began their explanation, Sarutobi pulled out a notepad to record important points, mistakes and possible courses of action. At various times he interrupted the narrative to give the more immediate orders ("Take the two nukenin to Ibiki and Anko. I want everything they know. Yesterday. Do let them know they have the freedom to use any means they so desire," and "Notify Inoichi that he is required for a 'soft' interrogation of Tazuna here."). At one point, Naruto whispered a portion of his report in Sarutobi's ear, knowing that his last words to Kakashi referenced a rather powerful secret. Once the disjointed story finished, Sarutobi took a few seconds to gather his thoughts, his left hand rubbing his balding head. "That's quite an event. First off, congratulations. Though the events were quite bad, you performed better than I had any reason to expect, especially you Naruto. Kakashi's death was not your fault. Do not blame yourself or beat yourself up over it. Next, keep any interpersonal business out of your missions. Let this tragedy serve as a reminder of this. You must learn to either resolve such things before the mission or set it aside for the duration. All ninja must learn this. I'm sorry your lesson had to come so soon. Sasuke and Sakura, I am slightly disappointed that you did not contribute to the battle, though you did show good instincts with trying to keep the enemy alive for interrogation, Sakura. I'm not surprised that you both hesitated, but it is something to work on. Overall, I'm impressed. I still need the written report. Naruto, come in tomorrow to learn the proper procedure. Until further notice, Naruto is interim team leader based on his command of the abandonment of the mission. Wise decision, that one. I'll call you three back when my interrogators finish to decide the next proper step. Until then, rest. Dismissed."

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I need a beta. Seriously, I do. Please send me a message to volunteer.


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